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1.President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged Monday that South Korea will provide 10 million U.S. dollars worth of humanitarian aid to address the hunger crisis in Africa as a member of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, which was launched at the start of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

2.The Suwon District Prosecutors Office on Tuesday indicted opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on charges of embezzling 106.53 million won, or roughly 76-thousand-600 U.S. dollars, from the Gyeonggi provincial government by misusing corporate cards and an official car during his term as governor.

3.The presidential office said Monday that South Korea was given prior notice by the United States on its reported decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to strike inside Russia.

1.The leaders of South Korea, the United States, and Japan on Friday held a trilateral meeting in Lima on the sidelines of the APEC summit. In a joint statement, they announced the establishment of a secretariat for trilateral cooperation, and condemned North Korea and Russia’s decision to “dangerously expand” the war in Ukraine.

2.The Joint Chiefs of Staff on Monday condemned North Korea for “crossing the line” with its continued sending of trash-filled balloons to South Korea, and warned that all responsibility “lies within the North.”

3.U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday authorized Ukraine to use long-range missiles supplied by the U.S. for limited strikes inside Russia in response to North Korea’s deployment of troops to aid Moscow’s war effort.

1.The Seoul Central District Court on Friday sentenced opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung to a suspended one-year prison term for violating the Public Official Election Act during his previous presidential campaign.

2.According to a U.S. Treasury Department report on Thursday, the U.S. has put South Korea back on its list of countries to monitor for their foreign exchange policies, a year after the Asian country's exclusion from the list.

3.President Yoon Suk Yeol landed in Lima, Peru, on Thursday to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. On the sidelines of the multilateral forum, President Yoon is set to hold separate talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday departed for South America to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and Group of 20 summits. President Yoon is scheduled to first land in Lima, Peru, to participate in the APEC summit, then travel to Rio de Janeiro for the G-20 meeting.

2.Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said Thursday the government will take active steps, if necessary, to address excessive volatility in the foreign exchange market. Since Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election last week, the local currency has been fluctuating around the psychologically significant level of 1,400 won against the U.S. dollar.

3.The annual college entrance exam kicked off nationwide Thursday. Choe Joung-chul, head of the CSAT question-setting committee, said during a press conference that extremely difficult "killer" questions were excluded from this year's exam.

1.The benchmark KOSPI on Wednesday plunged 2-point-64 percent to close at 2-thousand-417-point-08, with the market cap falling below 2,000 trillion won.

2.The United States confirmed Tuesday that North Korean troops, who have been deployed to Russia's western front-line Kursk region, have begun engaging in combat operations against Ukrainian forces.

3.South Korea's government said Tuesday all aircraft takeoffs and landings across the nation will be temporarily prohibited to keep noise down during this year's annual College Scholastic Ability Test held on Thursday. South Korean banks will also begin operations an hour later than usual.

1.North Korea's state media reported Tuesday that the treaty on "comprehensive strategic partnership" between North Korea and Russia was ratified the previous day as a decree by North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un.

2.National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik said Tuesday South Korea is no longer a "one-sided beneficiary" of the bilateral alliance with the United States, vowing to work with the incoming U.S. administration for the denuclearization of North Korea.

3.The United Nations annual climate summit, COP29, began on Monday in Azerbaijan's capital Baku amid the re-election of Donald Trump as United States president, who has expressed his intention to walk out of the landmark Paris Agreement for the second time.

1.A consultative body involving the ruling People Power Party, the government and doctors' groups, was launched on Monday to seek to resolve a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors, with the aim of producing "meaningful" results by late December.

2.According to Russia's state-run TASS news agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday has signed into law a treaty on the country's strategic partnership with North Korea, which includes a mutual defense provision.

3.According to the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase on Sunday, the price of Bitcoin surpassed the 80-thousand-dollar mark for the first time just days after Donald Trump’s reelection to the U.S. presidency.

1.Two people died and 12 others remain missing after a fishing boat sank off the southern island of Jeju on Friday. The Coast Guard said a search is underway, and that the 12 missing are 10 South Koreans and two Indonesians.

2.The U.S. Federal Reserve on Thursday lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-percentage point to the 4.50 to 4.75 percent range, marking the second consecutive reduction following a jumbo 50-basis-point cut in September.

3.The Associated Press reported Thursday that Korean American congresswoman Young Kim has won a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives in Tuesday’s general elections, serving California’s 40th District.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday held a public address and press conference to mark nearly two-and-a-half years in office. After apologizing for “causing concerns” regarding allegations that first lady Kim Keon-hee interfered in party politics, Yoon laid out his plans for the remainder of term in office.

2.Principal deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo told reporters on Thursday that President Yoon Suk Yeol spoke on the phone with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to congratulate him on his reelection. The two reportedly have agreed to hold an in-person meeting at an early date.

3.Two U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday that North Korean troops were engaged in combat in Russia's Kursk on November 4th for the first time.

1.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday confirmed the Ukrainian military's first combat engagement with North Korean troops, after a U.S. State Department spokesperson said Monday that as many as 10-thousand North Korean troops are in Russia's western front-line Kursk region.

2.The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Andy Kim, a third-term congressman, won a Senate seat for New Jersey in the U.S. general election, making history as the first Korean American elected to the upper chamber of Congress.

3.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after months of clashes over domestic politics and Israel’s war efforts. In a recorded statement Tuesday evening, Netanyahu said that “trust between me and the minister of defense has cracked.”

1.The presidential office said Monday that President Yoon Suk Yeol will address the South Korean people and hold a press conference on Thursday at 10 a.m. to discuss the future direction of state affairs and address a series of controversies.

2.South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday that North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, just hours ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

3.Voting to elect the 47th president of the United States began at 2 p.m. Korea time. Though voting schedules vary from state to state, polls generally open between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m., and start closing at around 7 p.m., local time.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday called for thorough countermeasures against the “illegal” military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, saying the deepening alliance poses a significant security threat to South Korea.

2.South Korea’s Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and his Canadian counterpart, Bill Blair, held talks in Ottawa on Friday and condemned North Korea’s troop deployment to Russia.

3.U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are heading into election day neck-and-neck in national and state polls. Experts say that the seven swing states will determine who wins in the polls after they close on November 5th.

1.According to Seoul’s foreign ministry on Friday, South Korea's foreign minister Cho Tae-yul met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington the previous day on the sidelines of the “two-plus-two” meeting, and agreed to closely work together to respond to the North Korean troops' possible participation in Russia's war in Ukraine.

2.The Czech antitrust watchdog, the Office for the Protection of Competition, said Thursday it denied complaints from the United States' Westinghouse and France's EDF over the Czech government's decision to pick Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power as a preferred bidder to build two nuclear units.

3.According to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Friday, South Korea's exports extended on-year gains for the 13th straight month in October, on the back of robust performance of semiconductors. Outbound shipments rose 4-point-6 percent on-year to 57-point-5 billion U.S. dollars last month.

1.South Korea's military said that North Korea fired what appeared to be a new type of solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Thursday, in a move apparently aimed at bolstering Pyongyang's leverage ahead of the U.S. presidential election next week.

2.The Czech Republic's antitrust authority,, on Wednesday imposed a temporary hold on a deal to build two nuclear reactors, for which a South Korean consortium was chosen as the preferred bidder in July.

3. According to data by Statistics Korea on Thursday, South Korea's industrial output fell 0.3 percent from a month earlier in September on dwindling production in the semiconductor. Retail sales, a gauge of private spending, also went down 0.4 percent amid signs of weaker economic growth.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday that North Korean troops in Russia could be deployed to battlefield zones in Ukraine sooner than expected, describing it as a "grave" situation. Yoon shared the assessment during a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

2.The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Tuesday urged the Japanese government to continue its efforts to ensure the rights of victims to claim compensation related to the issue of “comfort women” during Japan’s colonial rule.

3.The education ministry decided Tuesday to allow medical schools the freedom to grant academic leave requested by students, as most medical students have been boycotting classes for months in protest against the increase in the medical school admission quota.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting that North Korea's troop deployment in Russia constituted security threats to both South Korea and the world, denouncing what he calls "illegal" military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

2.North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday reported that North Korea’s foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, left Pyongyang to visit Russia amid international criticism over the North’s participation in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

3.The South Korean Embassy in China said Monday that a South Korean man has been detained on espionage charges in China, the first time for a South Korean in such a case. The suspect in his 50s, whose identity has been withheld, was reportedly arrested late last year and had been working at a semiconductor company.

1.South Korea’s National Security Advisor Shin Won-sik, and his U.S. and Japan counterparts, held a trilateral meeting in Washington last Friday to address concern over North Korea’s recent troop deployment to Russia.

2.South Korea’s finance minister Choi Sang-mok on Monday vowed to enhance market monitoring and swiftly respond to excessive volatility under contingency plans amid weaker growth data and global uncertainties.

3.Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s ruling coalition, the Liberal Democratic Party, lost its parliamentary majority at Sunday's national election, as voters punished the party over a funding scandal and inflation. The results raise Japan's political uncertainty and sent the yen currency to a three month low on Monday.

1.According to the Presidential office on Friday, President Yoon Suk Yeol said weapons manufactured in South Korea will safeguard Poland's national security, as Yoon hosted a state dinner for Polish President Andrzej Duda Thursday.

2.Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday his country's military cooperation with North Korea is "our business," as he addressed a question about Pyongyang's troop dispatch to support Russia's war in Ukraine.

3.The first annual Dokdo Day ceremony took place on Ulleung Island in the East Sea on Friday afternoon. According to the local government of Ulleung County, North Gyeongsang Province, October 25 is Dokdo Day under an ordinance enacted in May.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged support for South Korea's efforts to sign an additional deal with Poland to supply K2 tanks by the end of the year, during a summit with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday.

2.The White House on Wednesday confirmed that North Korea deployed at least three-thousand soldiers to Russia earlier this month. NATO also said its allies have "confirmed evidence" of the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.

3.According to data from the Bank of Korea on Thursday, South Korea's economy grew at a slower-than-expected rate in the third quarter of the year amid softening export growth. The country's real GDP gained 0.1 percent on-quarter in the July-September period.

1.The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday it kept the 2024 growth outlook for South Korea unchanged at 2.5 percent amid a stable global economic expansion. The IMF also maintained its growth forecast for South Korea next year at 2.2 percent.

2.Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong on Wednesday vowed to make efforts to resolve a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors throughout talks with a consultative body comprising ruling, opposition parties and the medical community.

3.According to an analysis by the intelligence unit at South Korea's defense ministry on Wednesday, North Korea is estimated to have secured enough wartime supplies, including weapons, to last a maximum of three months.

1.During their meeting on Monday evening, People Power Party chief Han Dong-hoon pressed President Yoon Suk Yeol to remove a group of presidential aides allegedly under first lady Kim Keon-hee’s command.

2.South Korea on Monday strongly urged Russia to take "immediate" action to withdraw North Korean troops from the war in Ukraine, after Seoul's spy agency confirmed the North's deployment of its soldiers to Russia to help the war effort.

3.According to data from Statistics Korea on Tuesday, workers aged 60 and over outnumbered those in their 50s for the first time last month, to rank first among all age groups in employment.

1.During a ceremony marking 79th Police Day on Monday, President Yoon Suk Yeol urged police to step up efforts to crack down on crimes affecting ordinary citizens, new types of crime enabled by artificial intelligence, such as deepfake, and fake news.

2.The Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute announced Sunday that only 266 people passed this year’s exam, which is less than one-tenth of last year’s figure. The sharp decline is the result of medical students boycotting the exam in protest of the government’s plans to increase medical school admissions.

3.South Korea’s National Intelligence Service on Friday presented images confirming North Korea’s deployment of troops to Russia for its war in Ukraine, which were captured by satellite the South has been operating.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday held an emergency security meeting at the Yongsan Presidential Office, focusing on North Korea’s deployment of combat troops to Russia's war in Ukraine.

2.The Ministry of Economy and Finance said Friday that South Korea's economy continues to recover with solid exports and manufacturing gains, as it presented its monthly economic report, known as the “Green Book,” for October.

3.Israel on Thursday claimed that its forces killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Western leaders said his death offered an opportunity for the war to end, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it would go on.

1. Rival parties won crucial regional by-elections in their respective strongholds. The ruling People Power Party won the mayoral races in Busan's Geumjeong District and Incheon's Ganghwa County, while the main opposition Democratic Party won in the South Jeolla Province counties of Yeonggwang and Gokseong.

2. Senior diplomats from South Korea, the United States and Japan strongly denounced North Korea on Wednesday for deliberately escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

3. The South Korean government on Thursday expressed disappointment and "deep regret" after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba sent a ritual offering to the Yasukuni Shrine, which is seen as a symbol of Japan's militaristic past.

1.Voting for the by-elections kicked off at about 24-hundred polling stations in five electoral districts on Wednesday. The by-elections will fill the post of the education chief of Seoul and four local government heads. Final results are expected to come in around midnight.

2.Senior diplomats from South Korea, the United States and Japan met in Seoul on Wednesday amid rising tensions following North Korea's destruction of roads to the South and accusations of drone flights by the South over Pyongyang.

3.According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of employed people in South Korea came to 28-point-8 million in September, up 144-thousand from a year earlier. Jobs in the construction sector, however, fell by the most ever amid an industry slowdown.

1.With just one day left until the by-elections to elect four local government heads and the Seoul Superintendent of Education on Tuesday, both the ruling and opposition parties made their final push to win over voters.

2.North Korea on Tuesday blew up roads connected to South Korea once seen as symbols of inter-Korean cooperation as it seeks to cement its animosity toward the South, which it regards as a "primary foe."

3.This year's Nobel economics prize laureates on Monday applauded South Korea's economic rise, a key subject of their research, while also pointing out a set of challenges ahead. They also drew a stark contrast between the economic backwater of South and North Korea.

1.North Korea on Friday accused Seoul of flying drones over Pyongyang airspace to drop anti-regime propaganda leaflets, while Kim Yo-jong warned of “horrible disaster” if it happens again. The Joint Chiefs of Staff declined to confirm the claim and warned the North will see “the end of its regime” if it causes harm to South Koreans.

2.According to Statistics Korea on Monday, the number of female wage earners in South Korea averaged 10-million-152-thousand in the period from January to August this year, surpassing the 10 million mark for the first time since data compilation began in 1963.

3.China’s military launched a new round of military exercises near Taiwan on Monday, in what it calls a “stern warning” against those seeking “independence,” drawing condemnation from Taiwan and the U.S.

1.South Korean author Han Kang was awarded with the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature Thursday, becoming the first Asian female to be given this prestigious award and the second South Korean Nobel laureate. In a telephone interview with the Swedish Academy, Han said all writers since her childhood had been a source of inspiration to her.

2.President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba held their first meeting in Laos on Thursday and agreed to strengthen security cooperation against North Korean threats amid Pyongyang’s growing military ties with Russia.

3.The Bank of Korea on Friday lowered its key interest rate by 25 basis points to three-point-2-5 percent, after holding rates for almost two years. The decision came amid moderating inflation and signs of the property market cooling down.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday announced the start of a “comprehensive strategic partnership” between South Korea and the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the opening of the South Korea-ASEAN summit Laos.

2.South Korea was elected to the U.N. Human Rights Council for the 2025-2027 term on Wednesday, as Seoul seeks to actively participate in international efforts to address North Korean and other human rights issues.

3.Medical professors of Seoul National University participated in a public debate session with government officials on Thursday. It was the first time a senior presidential secretary participated in a debate session regarding the medical reform.

1.At a government ceremony marking the 578th Hangeul Day on Wednesday, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo raised concerns about “indifference to the Korean language” and the excessive use of foreign loanwords, as well as abbreviations and newly coined words, adding that the nation has a duty to further develop the Korean alphabet.

2.President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday a unified, nuclear-free Korean Peninsula would contribute to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and unlock new opportunities across a large, interconnected market, during his state visit to Singapore.

3.FTSE Russell, the London-based global index provider, announced Tuesday that South Korea will be included in a key leading World Government Bond Index, starting November next year.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong held summit talks Tuesday and signed a supply chain partnership arrangement, resolving to enhance bilateral cooperation on supply chains for strategic goods in the energy and biotechnology industries.

2.According to tentative data from the Bank of Korea on Tuesday, South Korea posted a current account surplus for the fourth consecutive month in August, on the back of robust chip exports. The current account surplus came to six-point-six billion dollars in August.

3.The official paper of North Korea's Workers’ Party, Rodong Sinmun, on Tuesday reported that leader Kim Jong-un said he has no intention of attacking South Korea, but will not rule out the use of nuclear weapons if an enemy attempts to use force against the North.

1.During President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to the Philippines on Monday, the two countries agreed to elevate bilateral relations and form a strategic partnership to enhance cooperation in security, economy, and energy.

2.The 22nd National Assembly on Monday began its first parliamentary inspection of government offices. A total of 17 parliamentary standing committees will conduct audits and inspections of 802 government agencies and offices for 26 days.

3.The Foreign Ministry said Friday that South Korea and the U.S. reached an agreement on the 12th Special Measures Agreement, which stipulates how much South Korea pays to help upkeep troops in U.S. Forces Korea. Under the new deal, South Korea will pay 8-point-three percent more on-year in 2026.

1.The North’s state Korean Central News Agency reported Friday about Kim Jong-un's response to President Yoon's Armed Forces Day speech earlier this week. Kim reiterated that he will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons if an enemy attempts to encroach on North Korea’s sovereignty.

2.The National Assembly on Friday voted down three contentious bills put up for a re-vote, including one calling for a special investigation into allegations involving first lady Kim Keon Hee, after President Yoon Suk Yeol vetoed them.

3.Oil prices were subdued on Friday, after surging a day earlier, but remained on track for strong weekly gains, as concerns mounted that a widening regional conflict in the Middle East could disrupt global crude flows.

1.Prime Minister Han Duck-soo vowed Thursday to complete the medical reform, saying the reform drive is an essential choice to ensure the safety of people and protect future generations, at a ceremony commemorating National Foundation Day.

2.South Korean Pianist Lim Yunchan on Wednesday won the prestigious Gramophone Classical Music Award in the piano category, marking the first time a Korean pianist has received the prize. Lim, aged 20, received the award for his album, "Chopin: Etudes," and also won the "Young Artist of the Year" award.

3.The Presidential Office said Thursday that President Yoon Suk Yeol and new Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba have been arranging to have their first in-person meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Laos.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday endorsed Cabinet motions demanding parliamentary reconsideration of three opposition-led bills, including one calling for a special counsel probe into first lady Kim Keon Hee's allegations.

2.The Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday that North Korea sent what appeared to be trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea for the first time in 10 days.

3.Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel on Tuesday, the latest in a series of rapidly escalating attacks between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies. Iran said the barrage was retaliation for a series of devastating blows Israel has recently landed against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

1.A ceremony marking South Korea’s 76th Armed Forces Day was held in the Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do Province on Tuesday, featuring the Hyunmoo-5 missile, a centerpiece of the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation. Following the ceremony, a military parade was held near Gwanghwamun.

2.According to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Tuesday, South Korea's exports extended on-year gains for the 12th straight month in September, on the back of robust shipments of chips.

3.Israel’s military said Tuesday it has begun “a limited ground operation” in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah with paratroops and commandos.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico agreed Monday to elevate bilateral ties and cooperate in carbon free energy industries during a summit earlier in the day in Seoul.

2.According to data compiled by Statistics Korea on Monday, South Korea’s industrial output increased for the first time in four months, advancing 1-point-2 percent in August from a month earlier. Retail sales also increased 1-point-7 percent from the previous month.

3.The Israeli military said Sunday that it “eliminated” 20 other Hezollah leaders of varying ranks when they killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut on Friday.

1.The National Assembly held a plenary session on Thursday and passed 77 key livelihood bills, including measures for punishing deepfake sexual exploitation crimes and extending parental leave.

2.Interior Minister Lee Sang-min on Friday announced government plans to invest 3.3 trillion won, or roughly 2.5 billion U.S. dollars, of its health insurance funding annually over the next five years to reform tertiary care hospitals to better prioritize the treatment of critically ill patients.

3.Japan's former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba won the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election on Friday, defeating economic security minister Sanae Takaichi in a runoff vote, and is set to be named prime minister next week after a parliamentary vote.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday pledged to support South Korea's ascent to the ranks of the world's top three artificial intelligence powerhouses by 2027 at the inaugural meeting of a presidential committee on the AI industry.

2.The Ministry of Economy and Finance said Thursday that South Korea is expected to face a tax shortfall of nearly 30 trillion won, or about 22-point-6 billion U.S. dollars, this year. The government expects to collect 337-point-7 trillion won in taxes, which is 8-point-1 percent less than the forecast made in the 2024 budget planning.

3.Hezbollah on Wednesday said it launched a ballistic missile toward the headquarters of Israel’s intelligence service Mossad near Tel Aviv, shortly after the Israeli military said it intercepted the attack.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol hosted a dinner meeting with the leadership of the ruling People Power Party on Tuesday. President Yoon discussed the outcome of his recent visit to the Czech Republic, but there is said to be no meaningful discussions on sensitive issues about the medical reform and first lady Kim Keon Hee.

2.South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday that the 8th round of negotiations for the 12th Special Measures Agreement between South Korea and the United States, which will determine South Korea's defense cost-sharing for U.S. Forces Korea from 2026 onward, is set to take place in Seoul from September 25th to 27th.

3.An Israeli airstrike on Beirut killed a senior Hezbollah commander on Tuesday as cross-border rocket attacks by both sides increased fears of a full-fledged war in the Middle East. Hezbollah early on Wednesday confirmed senior commander Ibrahim Qubaisi was killed. Israel said Qubaisi headed the group's missile and rocket force.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to host a dinner meeting with the leadership of the ruling People Power Party on Tuesday, including PPP chief Han Dong-hoon, floor leader Choo Kyung-ho and Supreme Council members, for the second time following Han's election in July.

2.According to the Bank of Korea on Tuesday, South Korea's producer price index fell 0-point-1 percent in August from a month earlier, driven by a fall in the prices of oil and related products.

3.Lebanon's health ministry said Monday that at least 492 people have been killed in intense and wide-ranging Israeli air strikes targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, in the deadliest day of conflict since 2006. France on Monday requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss Lebanon.

1.The Korea Electric Power Corporation said Monday that it plans to freeze electricity rates for the fourth quarter at 5 won per kilowatt-hour. The rate, however, is still subject to an additional adjustment later this year.

2.The Joint Chiefs of Staff on Monday vowed to take “stern” military measures should North Korea “cross the line” with its ongoing trash balloon campaign or inflict serious damage to the South Korean people.

3.Hezbollah and Israel exchanged intense fire into Sunday, while Hezbollah deputy chief said it has entered an “open-ended battle of reckoning” with Israel. The conflict between the two has escalated sharply in the past week, renewing fears of wider war·

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday held out the prospect of forging a "nuclear energy alliance" with the Czech Republic, after holding a summit with Czech President Petr Pavel.

2.The United States on Thursday announced sanctions against five entities and one individual -- based in Russia and a Russian-occupied Georgian region -- for their alleged involvement in illicit financial schemes between Pyongyang and Moscow.

3.Israel carried out extensive air strikes on southern Lebanon late on Thursday, heightening the conflict between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, amid calls for restraint.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol left for Prague on Thursday for a trip focused on ensuring a major nuclear energy project in the Czech Republic. Ahead of his departure, President Yoon expressed confidence in a written interview with Reuters that Korea will clinch the deal despite legal concerns.

2.The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday lowered its benchmark interest rate by half of a percentage point to the 4.75 to 5.0 percent range, and hinted at possibly further lowering the rate later this year.

3.The opposition-dominated National Assembly passed three contentious bills on Thursday, including two mandating special counsel probes - one to look into the death of a marine last year and another to examine allegations against First Lady Kim Keon-hee. The ruling People Power Party chose to boycott Thursday's plenary session.

1.The Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles in a northeastern direction on Wednesday, further raising tensions just five days after North Korea disclosed a uranium enrichment facility.

2.Health authorities said Tuesday that emergency rooms at hospitals nationwide operated smoothly on Chuseok with patient traffic comparable to that of a typical weekend, amid a prolonged doctors' walkout.

3.Pagers used by hundreds of members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah exploded simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday, killing at least nine people and wounding over 2-thousand-800.

1.The government and the ruling People Power Party agreed Thursday to implement financial aid measures to encourage around 8,000 hospitals and neighborhood clinics to accept patients during the upcoming Chuseok holiday, amid a prolonged doctors' walkout.

2.South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday morning.

3.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his British counterpart, David Lammy, met with the top leaders of Ukraine in Kyiv on Wednesday to discuss lifting restrictions on Ukraine using long-range weapons supplied by the west on key military targets inside Russia.

1.The Korea Meteorological Administration said an unprecedented autumn heat wave is set to reach its peak on Wednesday, as the daytime high was forecast to rise to a record 35 degrees Celsius in Seoul, amid a heat wave advisory issued for almost all regions of the country.

2.According to data from the Korea Customs Service on Wednesday, South Korea's exports rose 24.6 percent on-year in the first 10 days of September on robust global demand for semiconductors.

3.U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump on Tuesday clashed over foreign policy, immigration, abortion, Russia's war in Ukraine and other issues during their first high-stakes televised debate in Philadelphia.

1.During a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, President Yoon Suk Yeol said the government will temporarily raise health insurance payments to hospitals for the upcoming Chuseok holiday to better reward their services and to prevent disruptions in emergency medical care.

2.North Korea's state media reported Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to bolster the country's nuclear capabilities to deter any threats by enemies, saying it is steadily carrying out a policy to increase the number of nuclear weapons exponentially.

3.Tokyo Electric Power Company said in a statement Tuesday that its “pilot extraction operation” to remove a small amount of radioactive debris from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant had started. The operation will take about two weeks, and be a crucial step towards decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

1.The National Assembly will hold a four-day interpellation session starting Monday. During the session, lawmakers are expected to clash over inflation, the health care crisis, a special counsel investigation centering on first lady Kim Keon-hee, and the pension system reform.

2.The Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday that North Korea sent more trash-filled balloons towards South Korea on Sunday, in what marked the fifth straight day of such launches. Around 40 bundles were confirmed to have landed in the Seoul metropolitan area.

3.A former Philippines police officer, who kidnapped and murdered a Korean businessman in 2016, has fled after being sentenced to life imprisonment.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held talks in Seoul on Friday to discuss ways to deepen bilateral cooperation as Kishida is preparing to leave office.

2.The presidential office is reportedly open to adjusting the medical school admissions quota for the 2026 academic year. The top office is also said to be willing to form a consultative body between the rival parties, the government and the medical community, to resolve the health care crisis.

3.The United States' said Thursday that it is seeking new export controls on quantum computing, advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment and other technologies, in what it called a national security measure. Experts said it would have limited ramifications on South Korean firms.

1.Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong on Wednesday announced a national pension reform plan. The government proposed raising the pension contribution rate from the current 9 percent to 13 percent, and upwardly adjusting the nominal replacement rate to 42 percent.

2.The Joint Chiefs of Staff said that North Korea started sending balloons into South Korea again on Thursday morning. North Korea sent around 420 trash-carrying balloons from Wednesday night to early Thursday in what marked its resumption of its balloon campaign after a near month-long halt.

3.According to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea released Thursday, South Korea's real gross domestic product - a key measure of economic growth - contracted 0-point-2 percent on-quarter in the April-June period, amid weaker domestic demand, while exports remained solid.

1.Main opposition Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae strongly criticized the Yoon administration for its handling of the prolonged medical vacuum caused by doctors' collective action during a speech at the National Assembly on Wednesday.

2.President Yoon Suk Yeol and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Wednesday held Summit talks in Seoul and agreed to accelerate discussions to elevate their bilateral cooperation to a "comprehensive strategic partnership."

3.The benchmark KOSPI plunged 83-point-83 points, or three-point-15 percent, on Wednesday to close at two-thousand-580-point-eight, amid renewed concerns of a U.S. economic recession. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ also tumbled three-point-76 percent to close at 731-point-75.

1.The South Korean government on Tuesday designated Armed Forces Day on October 1st as a temporary holiday this year to boost troop morale and domestic consumption.

2.According to data from Statistics Korea on Tuesday, South Korea's consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, increased 2 percent on-year last month. August's figure marked the slowest increase since March 2021, on easing prices of farm produce and global oil.

3.According to a report from the Institute for National Security Strategy on Tuesday, North Korea is estimated to have earned more than six billion U.S. dollars through hacking and other illicit activities over the past seven years, despite facing heavy international sanctions.

1.The leaders of the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party agreed Sunday to form a joint consultative body to discuss matters concerning people’s livelihoods where both parties share common ground.

2.South Korea’s health ministry on Monday started holding daily briefings on the situation in emergency rooms. Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong tried to soothe concerns saying that he believes emergency rooms can maintain operations despite the current difficulties

3.Massive protests swept Israel on Sunday calling for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure a ceasefire deal, after the Israeli military said that six bodies recovered in the Gaza strip belonged to hostages who had been killed by Hamas.

1. According to data compiled by Statistics Korea on Friday, South Korea's industrial output fell for the third consecutive month in July due to sluggish production in the semiconductor and automobile sectors.

2.The Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy said Friday the government will evaluate progress made by each government ministry in policies aimed at tackling the country's chronic low births within the year.

3.Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun reported Friday that North Korea is planning to send its Foreign Minister, Choe Son-hui, to the UN General Assembly in late September, marking the first appearance by an incumbent North Korean foreign minister at the event since 2018.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday that the government will pursue gradually increasing the pension premiums for the younger generation and the middle-aged generation at a different pace, as well as introduce mechanisms to enhance the pension system's financial stability.

2.South Korea's Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that the government's failure to set greenhouse gas reduction targets beyond 2031 is unconstitutional, marking Asia's first decision recognizing inadequate climate action as a violation of citizens' rights.

3.South Korea and the United States on Thursday wrapped up the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise after its 11-day run, as the allies sought to bolster their joint defense readiness against evolving North Korean military threats.

1.The National Assembly on Wednesday passed several bills aimed to improve people’s livelihoods, marking the first time the rival parties showed bipartisan support in advancing legislation since the 22nd Assembly started its four-year term in late May. Among the bills passed was a nursing act that calls for nurses to play greater roles.

2.The Finance Ministry announced Wednesday that the government will supply a record amount of 170-thousand tons of high-demand foodstuffs and provide a discount worth 70 billion won, or roughly 52 million U.S. dollars, for the upcoming Chuseok holiday.

3.The Korean National Police Agency said Tuesday that it will start an intensive seven-month crackdown against deepfake sex crimes starting Wednesday, as the number of cases increased in recent years.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged on Tuesday to uphold fiscal soundness in next year’s budget proposal while prioritizing the welfare of vulnerable groups and fostering economic growth. President Yoon presided over a Cabinet meeting to approve the government's 2025 budget proposal of 677-point-four trillion won, or about 509 billion U.S. dollars.

2.Rival political parties are reportedly in talks about a bill that would clarify the roles and responsibilities of physician assistants, and may conduct an emergency review of the legislation before putting it to a vote at Wednesday’s plenary session, as health care workers plan to go on strike Thursday.

3.Westinghouse Electric Company, a U.S. nuclear energy firm, on Monday said it has filed an appeal with the Czech Anti-Monopoly Office against the selection of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power as the preferred bidder for a nuclear power plant project, claiming its intellectual property rights.

1.The government plans to provide over 40 trillion won, or around 30 billion U.S. dollars, in financial support to small and medium-sized enterprises, and micro business owners as part of measures to support them ahead of the Chuseok holiday.

2.The presidential office said that it is in consultation with Japan regarding a possible visit by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to South Korea, amid Japanese media reports that Kishida will visit Seoul early next month for a summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol.

3.Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel early on Sunday, as Israel's military said it struck Lebanon with around 100 jets to thwart a larger attack.

1.Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company on Thursday suspended preparation work for the test removal of nuclear fuel debris from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, due to a technical error, and it is unclear when the work may resume.

2.Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Thursday that South Korea will push to expand free trade agreements with emerging markets in Asia and Africa to boost the export-driven economy and enhance supply chain resilience.

3.The police have formed a probe team and launched investigations into the deadly fire at a hotel in Bucheon, which killed seven people and injured 12 others on Thursday. The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police said on Friday that it set up an 84-member team for the task.

1.South Korea's central bank froze its key rate at 3.5% for the 13th straight session on Thursday as household debts continue to increase and inflation keeps slowing down.

2.Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo announced Thursday during a briefing that the government will redirect mild medical cases to local hospitals to reduce gaps in critical care, raise emergency room fees, and strengthen support for medical staff.

3.President Yoon Suk Yeol warned Wednesday that North Korea would face the “end of its regime” should it attempt to invade South Korea. President Yoon made the remark during his visit to the Ground Operations Command in Yongin, where he received briefings on the Ulchi Freedom Shield. `

1.The finance ministry said Wednesday it will extend the tax cut on fuel for automobiles by another two months until the end of October amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.

2.The chief of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Wednesday that health authorities plan to focus on treating COVID-19 in high-risk patients, as this year's summer wave is expected to peak by the end of this month.

3.A nationwide civil defense drill will be conducted for 20 minutes starting at 2 p.m. on August 22nd. After the siren sounds, residents must evacuate to the nearest civil defense shelter. The drill is being carried out to strengthen the public's ability to respond in situations such as missile attacks.

1.The Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that a North Korean soldier crossed the border into South Korea early Tuesday. The South Korean military detected the soldier from north of the Military Demarcation Line within the Demilitarized Zone in the eastern section of the border and conducted an operation to help him arrive in the South.

2.During a policy consultation meeting regarding next year’s government budget on Tuesday, the government and the ruling party agreed to increase the distribution of EV chargers with fire prevention functions to 90,000 units in response to the recent surge in EV fires.

3.The U.S. Democratic Party reaffirmed its commitment to its allies in the new party platform released on Sunday, ahead of the November presidential election. The platform stressed that the U.S. has and will stand by its allies, especially South Korea, against North Korea's provocations.

1.South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday that the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield Exercise began Monday and will be held until the 29th with increased field training to enhance South Korea’s and the U.S.’ joint defense posture against North Korea.

2.Lee Jae-myung won his second term as the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party with a record-high vote share of over 85 percent at a national convention on Sunday.

3.The Korea Meteorological Administration said Monday that Typhoon Jongdari{종다리} is currently moving northward toward the west of the Korean Peninsula, and will reach waters off the western city of Seosan on Wednesday.

1.The Ministry of Economy and Finance on Friday made an assessment in the Green Book, its monthly economic report, that the South Korean economy continues to show signs of improving domestic demand for four straight months, with consumer prices maintaining a stable trend.

2.The Korea Meteorological Agency reported that Seoul experienced its 26th consecutive tropical night on Friday, marking the longest streak of overnight temperatures remaining above 25 degrees celsius in 118 years.

3.South Korea's defense authorities on Friday approved a plan to reduce Indonesia's contribution to a joint fighter jet development project to 600 billion won, or approximately 440 million U.S. dollars, from the original amount of 1.6 trillion won.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol unveiled a vision for unification with North Korea on Thursday during an address marking the 79th Liberation Day, pledging to expand outside information on North Korea and proposing an official dialogue channel that can "take up any issue."

2.Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said on Wednesday during a discussion hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, that some experts anticipate Kim Jong-un might attempt to conduct a nuclear test or launch an ICBM in October if it would benefit him in the event of Trump's return to power.

3.Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday both claimed they have the upper hand after fighting on Russian soil for the ninth consecutive day. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is advancing into Russia’s Kursk region, but Russia reported it has thwarted Ukraine's attempts.

1.According to data compiled by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, South Korea added more than 100-thousand jobs for the first time in three months in July. The number of employed people came to 28-point-86 million last month, up 172-thousand on-year. Jobs in the construction sector, however, fell by the most in 11 years.

2.The Korea Children's Hospital Association said Wednesday that the number of COVID-19 cases among children in South Korea has nearly tripled over the past two weeks.

3.The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired some 15 rockets toward northern Israel, as fears grow over the possibility of a wider regional conflict. The rockets reportedly struck open areas, causing no injuries.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday reinstated the civil rights of former South Gyeongsang Governor Kim Kyung-soo under Liberation Day special pardons. The pardon was endorsed after it was recommended by a justice ministry panel last week and approved during a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day.

2.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Tuesday that the ongoing wave of COVID-19 is forecast to reach a peak around the end of August… and decided to expand the virus response team to enhance monitoring of the situation, analysis of infections and management of treatment and medical supplies.

3.Israel on Monday put its military on high alert and the Pentagon said it is sending a guided-missile submarine to the region and speeding up the arrival of a second aircraft carrier, amid heightened concerns about a possible Iranian and Hezbollah response to the killing of militant leaders in Tehran and Beirut.

1.The Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday that South Korea and the United States will begin the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise from August 19th to 29th to strengthen their joint defense readiness in the face of evolving North Korean military threats.

2.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday named Presidential Security Service chief Kim Yong-hyun as the new defense minister, while Defense Minister Shin Won-sik was named as new national security adviser. National security adviser Chang Ho-jin was named as special adviser for foreign affairs and security, a newly created post.

3.Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of starting a fire on the grounds of Europe's largest and now Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine on Sunday, with both sides reporting no sign of elevated radiation.

1.Multiple military sources said Friday that a North Korean defected to South Korea early on Thursday by crossing "neutral waters" between the two Koreas. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said relevant authorities are investigating the details, including how the defection took place.

2.According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Friday, the number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in South Korea surged sixfold in four weeks amid a virus resurgence in summertime nationwide. Of the inpatients this month, 65-point-2 percent were those aged 65 and older.

3.Japan's Meteorological Agency on Thursday issued its first-ever alert warning about a possible megaquake around the Nankai Trough, following a magnitude 7.1 quake that struck earlier in the day off the coast of Kyushu.

1.Rival political parties on Thursday agreed to pass pending bills with little difference between the two sides during the August extraordinary session, including a revision bill stripping parents of the right to inherit their deceased child's assets if they had neglected parental duties, and a legislation for physician assistants.

2.The environment ministry said Thursday that it plans to unveil a set of comprehensive measures to prevent electric vehicle fires next month, following recent blazes involving electric cars.

3.The foreign ministry said Tuesday that South Korea had proposed Japan use the expression "forced" in the museum exhibits on the Sado mines linked to wartime forced labor of Koreans, prior to its UNESCO inscription, but Tokyo refused.

1.The Korea Development Institute said in a monthly economic assessment report that the South Korean economy is on a recovery track on strong exports, but subdued domestic demand has limited the overall economic improvement.

2.Policy chiefs from the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party on Wednesday agreed to swiftly handle key livelihood bills that have been pending amid a political strife under the 22nd National Assembly, during an inaugural meeting between the two parties.

3.U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday announced the governor of Minnesota Tim Walz as her running mate for the presidential election. Walz is a former school teacher and military veteran who is viewed as a Democrat that can win over rural and working-class voters in crucial Midwestern states.

1.South Korean stocks rose more than 3 percent Tuesday, rebounding from the previous day's massive market sell-off, sparked by fears over a U.S. recession and the sluggish performance of big tech firms. The benchmark KOSPI gained 3.3 percent to close at 2,522-point-15 points.

2.Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on Tuesday unveiled policy measures for e-commerce vendors. Under the measures, the government will shorten a term of payment by e-commerce platforms to vendors and require e-commerce platforms to separately manage money set to be paid to vendors.

3.U.S. defense officials said Monday that at least five U.S. personnel were injured in an attack against a military base in Iraq, amid rising tensions following last week’s killing of senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah. According to Reuters, two Katyusha rockets were fired at the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq.

1.South Korea's benchmark KOSPI and the tech-heavy KOSDAQ both plunged over eight percent on Monday, prompting authorities to activate a circuit breaker to temporarily suspend trading. The Korea Exchange said it was halting trading on the KOSPI for 20 minutes starting at 2:14 p.m.

2.The opposition-controlled National Assembly on Monday passed the revision to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, better known as the "yellow envelope bill.” Lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party left the plenary session in protest.

3.According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and fire authorities on Monday, five South Koreans died of heat-related deaths over the weekend. An intense heat wave has been gripping the nation since late last month, and is forecast to continue for at least another 10 days.

1.According to data from Statistics Korea on Friday, consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 2.6 percent on-year last month. Inflation in July was led by high prices of farm produce, while prices of petroleum products climbed 8.4 percent on-year in July.

2.Seoul's unification ministry said Friday that North Korea has not yet responded to South Korea's proposal made a day earlier to support North Korean flood victims with necessary supplies from a humanitarian and fraternal perspective through the Korean Red Cross.

3.The U.S. Democratic Party began the process of formally nominating Kamala Harris as its candidate for the United States presidential elections. Democratic National Convention delegates began officially selecting their nominee for president on Thursday morning in what’s known as a virtual roll call.

1.South Korea's health ministry said Thursday that it will have hospitals recruit additional trainee doctors later this month. The announcement came as only 104 candidates applied for trainee doctor programs starting in September, while local hospitals sought to find trainees for seven-thousand-645 new positions.

2.According to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Thursday, South Korea's exports extended on-year gains for the tenth straight month in July on the back of the robust performance of semiconductors. Outbound shipments rose 13.9 percent on-year to 57-point-4 billion U.S. dollars last month.

3.The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its benchmark lending rate steady in the 5.25 to 5.50 percent range for an eighth consecutive time, while its chair said a rate cut could be "on the table" as soon as September if conditions are met.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday named Park Cheol-hee, an expert on Japan and the current head of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, as the top envoy to Tokyo,... and Kim Moon-soo, head of the presidential Economic, Social and Labor Council, as the new labor minister.

2.According to data compiled by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, South Korea's industrial output fell 0.1 percent on-month in June for the second consecutive month. However, retail sales advanced 1 percent on-month and facility investment climbed 4.3 percent from a month earlier in June.

3.Israel on Tuesday claimed it killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukur, in an airstrike on Beirut, launched in retaliation for a rocket attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Iranian state media reported Wednesday that Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in Tehran.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday reaffirmed plans to protect and support retail investors by scrapping the financial investment income tax, which is set to be introduced next year, during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office.

2.South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said in an interview with Bloomberg published Monday, that South Korea is not ruling out the possibility of North Korea conducting a nuclear test before or after the U.S. presidential election in November to bolster its leverage.

3.Reuters reported Tuesday that the United States is leading a diplomatic dash to deter Israel from striking Lebanon's capital Beirut or major civil infrastructure, as Lebanon braced for retaliation after a rocket strike that killed 12 children and teenagers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

1.South Korea's Ministry of Finance said Monday the government has decided to extend at least 560 billion won, or roughly 445 million U.S. dollars, of funds to support small vendors suffering from payment delays by the e-commerce platforms TMON and WeMakePrice.

2.In a press conference after the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Laos on Saturday, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol urged Japan to show sincerity in implementing follow-up measures regarding the designation of the Sado gold mine, associated with Korea's wartime forced labor, as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

3.Seoul's defense ministry said the defense chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan signed a document on the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework on Sunday, in a move solidifying their continued commitment to three-way security cooperation against North Korean threats.

1.Lee Sang-in, acting chief of South Korea's state broadcasting regulator, voluntarily stepped down Friday ahead of the National Assembly's planned vote on his impeachment motion. With Lee's resignation, the Korea Communications Commission is now left without any standing members.

2.Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday that Japan's former gold mine, associated with South Korea's wartime forced labor, is expected to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site over the weekend.

3.The opening ceremony for the 33rd Summer Olympics in Paris is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday local time, or 2:30 a.m. Saturday in South Korea. It will be the first opening ceremony in history to take place outside a stadium. South Korea has sent 143 athletes in 21 out of 32 sports.

1.The National Assembly on Thursday rejected a bill mandating a special counsel investigation into the death of a Marine that was up for a revote after President Yoon Suk Yeol vetoed it for the second time. Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik earlier said he will also table four controversial broadcasting bills during the session.

2.According to preliminary data released from the Bank of Korea on Thursday, South Korea's real gross domestic product, a key measure of economic growth, contracted 0.2 percent on-quarter in the April-June period, as weaker domestic demand clouded recovery prospects, despite robust exports.

3.U.S. President Joe Biden made his first public address since dropping his re-election bid, saying he pulled out of the race against Republican candidate Donald Trump to unite his party and save the country’s democracy.

1.The confirmation hearing for the new chief of the state broadcasting watchdog Lee Jin-sook began on Wednesday and will be held for two days until Thursday. Lee is a former journalist of public broadcaster MBC and was nominated by President Yoon Suk Yeol earlier this month.

2.The Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday that North Korea again launched trash-filled balloons toward South Korea. The Presidential Security Service later announced that a trash-carrying balloon sent by North Korea had also landed on the presidential office compound.

3.The Korea Meteorological Administration issued a heat advisory on Wednesday for northern and central Seoul, the surrounding metropolitan area, and the northwestern part of Gangwon. Heat alerts have been issued for 173 out of 183 designated land areas nationwide.

1.Han Dong-hoon was elected as the new leader of the ruling People Power Party at the national convention held Tuesday. Han secured a majority in the first round of voting.

2.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday sent special envoys {성태윤}Sung Tae-yoon and Industry Minister {안덕근}Ahn Duk-geun to the Czech Republic to discuss follow-up measures on the country’s selection of a South Korean consortium as a preferred bidder for a nuclear power plant project.

3.North Korea’s state media reported Tuesday that North Korea does “not care” who wins the upcoming U.S. election, dismissing former President Donald Trump’s repeated boasts about his close relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

1.Hospitals in South Korea on Monday started hiring roughly 7-thousand-700 trainee doctors, despite some medical professors warning of boycotting their training programs in protest of the government's push for accepting the resignations of trainees on strike.

2.The Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday that South Korea conducted anti-Pyongyang broadcasts through its border loudspeakers in full-scale for the second day, in response to the North's repeated launches of trash-carrying balloons into the South.

3.U.S. President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race Sunday and officially endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him as the Democratic Party's candidate. The announcement came following Biden’s poor debate performance last month against former President Donald Trump.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday attended the debate forum on people’s livelihood in Jeongeup, Jeollabuk-do Province and emphasized his plans to develop Jeonbuk via visions of 'high-tech,' 'life,' and ‘culture.’

2.According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday, South Korea's military resumed propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea in response to its latest launch of trash balloons into the South.

3.Former US President Donald Trump on Thursday stated he will “get along with” Kim Jong-un when he returns to office as he formally accepted the Republican nomination for the US Presidential election.

1. Subway and ferry services on Thursday are suspended and roads are closed across the country, including the capital region, due to torrential rain. The number of people temporarily evacuated due to heavy rain has also increased to 901.

2. The Czech government on Wednesday picked South Korea's state-run nuclear power agency as the preferred bidder to build two new nuclear power units, a project currently valued at $17.3 billion.

3. President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday nominated Seoul National University Professor Yoo Sang-im as the candidate for Minister of Science and ICT and also appointed three new deputy ministerial positions across different ministries.

1. National Assembly speaker Woo Won-shik on Wednesday proposed the parliament come up with a bill to revise the Constitution with the aim of holding a national referendum in 2026 and invited President Yoon Suk Yeol to hold talks with the National Assembly to discuss the amendment.

2. Torrential downpour hit Seoul and northern Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday, triggering emergency alerts and commuter chaos. According to the state weather agency, a heavy rain watch was issued across 10 cities and counties in northern Gyeonggi Province.

3. According to a federal court in New York City on Tuesday, a former Korean-American CIA specialist, Sue Mi Terry, has been formally charged for allegedly working as an unregistered agent for South Korea's intelligence service in exchange for luxury goods and other gifts.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday that South Korea's alliance with the United States has been elevated to a "nuclear-based" one capable of deterring the North's nuclear threats. Yoon added that the joint nuclear deterrence guidelines, signed last week, has established a structure to “respond swiftly and effectively to any kind of North Korean nuclear threat."

2.South Korea’s automobile exports hit another record high of $37 billion in the first half of the year driven by climbing sales of high-margin hybrid cars and SUVs.

3.Former US President Trump was officially nominated on Monday as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate alongside his vice presidential pick, Ohio Senator JD Vance, at the Republican National Convention.

1.Former US President Donald Trump was targeted in an assassination attempt on Saturday, local time, while delivering a rally speech in Butler, Pennsylvania. The attack left one person dead and two others critically injured.

2.President Yoon Suk Yeol said Sunday that South Korea will "spare no diplomatic ef

fort" to prevent the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors overseas during the commemoration of the inaugural North Korean Defectors' Day.

3.Trainee doctors appeared to have shown little signs of returning to work, despite the deadline set by the government calling on training hospitals to confirm their decisions on junior doctors’ resignation letters by Monday.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden warned on Thursday that any North Korean nuclear attack against South Korea will be met with a "swift, overwhelming and decisive" response, as they highlighted "tremendous" progress in their joint deterrence efforts.

2.South Korea strongly protested on Friday after Japan restated its false territorial claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo in its latest defense white paper, urging it to drop the unjustified claims.

3.South Korea set next year’s minimum wage at 10,030 won ($7.70) per hour on Friday, marking the first time the rate has exceeded the 10,000 won threshold.

1.NATO leaders on Wednesday "strongly" condemned North Korea's weapons exports to Russia and voiced "great concern" over the two countries' deepening partnership in a summit declaration. Meanwhile, President Yoon Suk Yeol held talks with the leaders of seven countries on the sidelines.

2.South Korea's central bank left its key rate unchanged at 3.5% for the 12th straight session on Thursday amid high household debt and moderating inflation.

3.South Korea has filed a suit to reverse an international tribunal's recent order to pay US$32 million in compensation to U.S. hedge fund Mason Capital over a controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates.

1.The Nato summit opened on Wednesday with U.S. President Joe Biden’s welcoming speech, where he reassured the allies that the military alliance “is more powerful than ever.” President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to arrive in Washington to join the summit on Wednesday and Thursday.

2.The government on Wednesday unveiled a set of guidelines loosening class requirements for medical students to help them avoid failing semesters. Many medical students have been collectively boycotting classes since February in protest against the government's increase of the medical school admissions quota.

3.Record torrential rainfall battered South Korea's southern regions Wednesday, leaving five people dead and one missing. Gunsan, in Jeollabuk-do province, received a whopping 131.7 millimeters of rain within a one-hour span early Wednesday morning, the heaviest hourly downpour on record.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday again vetoed a bill mandating a special counsel investigation into the military's response to a Marine's death last year, the second time he did so in less than two months.

2.President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived in Hawaii on Monday and visited the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and laid wreaths in honor of veterans who fought in the Korean War. He is set to arrive in Washington, DC, for the NATO Summit on Wednesday.

3.A Russian missile strike partially destroyed a children’s hospital in Kyiv on Monday. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the daytime aerial assault on targets in cities across Ukraine killed at least 37 people and injured 170 others.

1.South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to embark on a trip to the United States to attend the NATO summit in Washington. President Yoon will stop in Hawaii on Monday and Tuesday ahead of the summit, and arrive in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

2.The Gyeongbuk National Police Agency announced the results of the investigation into the death of Marine Corporal Chae’s after nearly a year. The police decided not to charge Lim Seong-geun, the commander of the Marine Corps 1st Division, and only referred six other military officers to the prosecution for indictment.

3.Unionized workers of Samsung Electronics launched their first-ever strike Monday, demanding higher pay and warning of potential further action if the country's largest conglomerate does not meet their demands.

1.The National Assembly Speaker’s office announced on Thursday that the opening ceremony of the 22nd National Assembly, that was originally scheduled for Friday, has been postponed, adding that the new schedule for the event will be disclosed at a later date.

2.According to data released by the Bank of Korea on Friday, South Korea logged the largest current account surplus in May, reaching eight-point-92 billion U.S. dollars, to hit a 32 month high on the back of a rise in the trade surplus and increased dividend income.

3.The U.K.'s opposition Labour Party won a huge parliamentary majority in the country's general election, unseating the incumbent Conservatives after 14 years. Keir Starmer, who will become the country's next Prime Minister, said "change begins now" as he declared victory.

1.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday named Lee Jin-sook as new chief of the Korea Communications Commission. {김완섭}Kim Wan-sup, who previously served as the second vice finance minister, was named as the minister of environment.

2.Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on Thursday called for proactive and preemptive responses during a meeting of ministers, to prevent possible massive changes in external circumstances from affecting South Korean exports so as to maintain economic recovery momentum.

3.Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is coordinating a four-way summit with South Korea, Australia and New Zealand on the sidelines of the NATO summit next week.

1.The interpellation session of the 22nd National Assembly on Tuesday was adjourned roughly two hours after it began due to sparring between rival party lawmakers and failed to resume, while the session was also canceled on Wednesday after the PPP’s filibuster in response to the DP proposing a special probe bill into Marine Corporal Chae.

2.President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday announced a support measures package of 25 trillion won, or roughly 18 billion U.S. dollars, for struggling small business owners, saying providing tailored support is better than cash handouts.

3.Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and leaders from countries in the global south gathered in Kazakhstan on Wednesday for the annual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

1.According to the South Korean Army on Tuesday, South Korea resumed live-fire exercises at artillery ranges near the border with North Korea for the first time in six years, following the suspension of the September 19 Military Agreement.

2.President Yoon Suk Yeol accepted the resignation of Korea Communications Commission Chairman Kim Hong-il on Tuesday, before a National Assembly vote on his impeachment.

3.Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party, or RN, scored historic gains to win the first round of France's parliamentary elections on Sunday. If the RN secures its position as the leading party following the second round of voting on July 7th, the potential shift in power is expected to send shockwaves across the European Union.

1.The Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday that North Korea fired two ballistic missiles in a northeastern direction with one of the launches possibly failing and the missile falling inland within the country.

2.The South Korean government announced plans Monday to launch a new ministry of population strategy to address low birth rates and a rapidly aging population, which have emerged as some of the biggest challenges facing the country.

3.According to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Monday, South Korea's exports extended on-year gains for the ninth straight month in June on the back of semiconductors, which rose 50.9 percent over the period to 13.4 billion U.S. dollars.